Pumpkin Hot Cakes

When I was growing up, my dad made Sunday Breakfast. It was usually Hot Cakes with Sausage or Bacon. He made small cakes we called "silver dollars". We ate them with maple syrup and butter, rounding out the meal with a glass of Extra Rich Milk. (That's milk with cream added to it!) No worries, I guess, about calories back then!
These Hot Cakes are a bit different than the ones I grew up with. Pumpkin, apples, and nuts make these perfect for a fall morning. Or have them like we did, for dinner! (Yes, another pumpkin recipe. I can't help it, it's my favorite fall flavor.)

These are so easy to make, and the soft texture contrasts nicely with the crunchy nuts.

And I love these thrifted (Value Village) brown transferware dishes. The fringed napkins were also thrifted, and one of these days, I'm going to do a little embroidery on them. (Or not.)

Pumpkin Hot Cakes

1 Cup of your favorite dry pancake mix (the kind you just add water to)

1 Cup canned pumpkin

1 Cup grated apple

1 Cup toasted pecans, chopped

2 Cups milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix ingredients, adjusting milk to a thick but almost pourable consistency. Cook on a lightly greased hot griddle or pan over medium high heat. Flip when bubbles appear on surface. Serve immediately with maple syrup and butter or with vanilla yogurt.

Make it a wonderful day!

In the Rain

Have a wonderful day!

Art Club Drawings, Continued...

Here are a few more ... This first one required a bit of cutting when the artist started coloring in too many orange legs...

This dancing elephant is in colored pencil...

Under the sea...

I feel the same as Garfield about pie...

And I love the colors of this one... (I made a quilt in red, yellow and green that this reminds me of.)

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

I like foods with flavor and color, and I love to use healthy ingredients too! This Pumpkin quick bread captures the colors and flavors of fall using whole wheat flour, along with pumpkin and walnuts.

I used this King Arthur flour- It's 100% hard white whole wheat, which has the same fiber and nutrition as traditional red wheat, but a milder flavor. It has all of the wheat germ and bran, and it's not bleached or anything like that. (Oops, didn't mean to do a commercial for them! But I like this flour!)


See all those yummy bits? Sweetened dried cranberries, golden raisins, toasted walnuts, and crystalized ginger. I LOVE the sweet/spicy bits of ginger!



The bowl with nuts in the background is thrifted (Value Village)-that green is one of my favorite colors, so it had to come home with me.

I think I'll have a slice for breakfast, along with my oatmeal and blueberries...

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread makes 3 delicious loaves

3 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 Tablespoon Baking Soda

1 1/4 tsp. Salt

1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. Ground Clove

3 C. Sugar

2 C. Pumpkin (canned)

1/2 C. Vegetable Oil

1/2 C. Applesauce (unsweetened)

2/3 C. Water

4 Eggs

1 C. Walnuts (toasted*), chopped

1/2 C. Sweetened Dried Cranberries (Craisins), soaked for a few minutes in water to plump a bit, drained

1/2 C. Golden Raisins

1 Tablespoon Crystalized Ginger, chopped medium fine (edit: I think I'll double the ginger next time!)

Beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, oil, applesauce, and water together in large bowl.

Sift in flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and clove. Mix well.

Fold in toasted walnuts, raisins, cranberries, and crystalized ginger.

Pour/spoon into three (7.5x3.5) greased and floured loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool on wire rack.

*Toasting really brings out the flavor in the nuts- I think it's worth the extra step. I like to have some toasted and stored in the freezer to sprinkle on oatmeal or to toss on a salad. Toast walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat stirring frequently until just browning, being careful not to burn.

A Few More from Art Club

Here are a few more from our drawing unit. This one is colored pencil.

And so is Bugs Bunny. (This student is so fast, literally drawing this in less than 10 minutes. The shading didn't take him much longer than that! His mom says he's been serious about drawing since he was three!)

Markers were used for this puppy with flowers.

This squirrel in pen only, was done by a sixth grade boy. I love it.

We've moved on to our next project, but I may HAVE to show you some more of their drawings- I think they are wonderful!!

Stormy Sky and Sunlit Trees

Have a wonderful day!

Art Club Cartoons

I teach after school art classes at three elementary schools near by. I started out years ago helping Donna, a very talented artist and teacher, with her classes at one school.

When she moved away, I continued teaching there and then added two more schools.

Donna always began the year with a drawing unit based on the approaches developed by Mona Brookes in "Drawing with Children". I've continued that tradition.

Students learn to see like artists by first identifying line types, then drawing them.

So Garfield isn't eye, ears, mouth, and nose. He's curved lines, dots, circles, angles, and straight lines.

Every year, I'm so impressed by what these young artists, grades 1-6, are able to do!

Make it a Wonderful Day!

Black and Blue for Pea-Pod

This is a little quilt for our first and only grandson, Peter.

I made quilts for his three big sisters this summer- the ones I made for the first round of the ORBC Q-Along, that led to using the scraps for a circle quilt, that led to the tutorial that started this blog!

This quilt is made from half-square triangles, six inch blocks. The pieced back includes a "cheater" fabric that looks pieced too. And I really like those little owls!

I LOVE the two black and white striped fabrics I used for the tiny border and the binding. But I can't look at whole big pieces of the striped fabric without feeling like I'm going to get a migraine! A little bit though, adds a wonderful pop- it seems happy and adds just a touch of sophistication at the same time.

Quilt Along Fabric Round 4

The Old Red Barn Quilt Along, Round 4 , is getting underway. I don't have time. And I have LOTS of other projects in various stages of unfinishedness.

"Unfinishedness" probably isn't a word, but you know what I mean. (See previous posts about Halloween tablecloths...)

But I'm in, and excited to get started on it! I pulled most of these from my stash, including the fat quarter on the top of the stack. I'd love to have more of that- anybody know what it is? I've used the Michael Miller Dumb Dot a couple of times before- love the brown polka dots on green. The solids are Kona Cottons.

Click the Quilt-Along link in the sidebar to see what everyone's up to or to join in!

Texture in Neutrals...

Have a wonderful day!